Editor's note: This has been updated from the original to reflect the NFL's latest legal filing.
FRISCO -- The NFL is pushing the tempo in its efforts to enforce its six-game suspension of Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The league filed its final response Wednesday night in its motion for an emergency stay of the injunction that is allowing Elliott to remain on the field.
The NFL had until 5 p.m. Friday to do so, but waited only hours after Elliott and the NFL Players Association filed their response to the motion the league first filed Monday.
Wednesday night, the NFL asked U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant, of the Eastern District of Texas, to issue a ruling by the end of the day Thursday.
The NFL said if there is no decision by then, it will seek a stay of the injunction from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals on Friday morning.
Mazzant is the judge who issued the injunction, so it is unlikely that he will stay his own order, said sports law expert Daniel Wallach. That's why the NFL is trying to take the matter to the federal appeals court as soon as possible, Wallach said.
While this could speed up the timeline, it's not likely to affect Elliott's status for Sunday's game at Denver. Even if the NFL files with the 5th Circuit on Friday, the appeals court would give the NFLPA and Elliott time to respond, according to Wallach.
But if the decision does move to the 5th Circuit, it's where Elliott's fate for the 2017 will likely be decided by next week. If the motion is granted, Elliott will serve his suspension immediately. If it's denied, Elliott will likely play the entire season while the NFL's appeal of the injunction, filed with the appeals court Monday, works its way through the court system.
The stay motion won't require an oral hearing; it will be decided by briefings.
Wallach expects the appeals court to deny the NFL's motion because of the irreparable harm requirement. While Elliott could always serve the six-game suspension later, he cannot make up the harm caused by missing games while the appeal is dealt with.
"Elliott cannot recapture those games," Wallach said, "and in effect, a stay ruling would give the NFL all the relief it seeks. ...That's why the court should deny the motion. ...That's why it should be a slam-dunk victory for the NFLPA."
If the NFL were to win the stay, Elliott would start serving the suspension immediately, and Elliott would have little recourse.
If the NFL's stay motion is denied, could the league expedite how quickly the appeal of the injunction is heard by the 5th Circuit so that the ruling comes during the season?
Wallach said that while the case could be expedited in that situation, it would be so that it doesn't stretch into the start of the 2018 season, and all the legal requirements would make it hard to resolve during the 2017 season.
The NFL announced Elliott's suspension Aug. 11 after a year-long investigation it said found three incidents in which he used physical force against a former girlfriend. Elliott denied the claims. His NFL appeal was denied, so the court battle continues.
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